Stereotype plate casting machine



y 3934 w. GERRARD El AL. 11$357,104

STEREOTYPE PLATE 'CASTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 25, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TORS W227 fer/aid BY We)" 79a rr/ls ATTORNE S.

May 1, 1934.

W. GERRARD ET AL.

STEREOTYPE PLATE CASTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 25 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TORS awry WWIJ TTOR s.

May 31, 1934'- w. GERRARD El AL STEREOTYPE PLATE CASTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 25, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORJ i errari May 1, 1934- w. GERRARD EFAL STEREOTYPE PLATE CASTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 25, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented May 1, 193-? UNETED STATES PATENT QF'FICE William Gerrard, Timperley, and Walter Harris, Altrincham, England Application February 25, 1932, Serial No. 595,116 In Great Britain March 12, 1931 12 Claims.

This invention relates to stereotype plate casting machines of he kind in which the casting mold is constituted by a vertical concave back or cope and a convex core adapted to be moved out of casting relationship with the cope into a substantially horizontal position for the delivery of the cast plate.

In connection with machines of this kind as heretofore proposed, the so-called bottom ring on which the core rests when in casting position, and which serves to close the bottom of the casting chamber, has been supported on a fixed pivot necessitating an initial tilting movement of the core when opening the mold, and the matrix against which the plate is cast has been released from the matrix clamps on the removal of the core and subsequently re-engaged therewith prior to the next cast.

The object of the present invention is to facilitate the employment in machines of this kind of a matrix clamping device by which the matrix may be retained in the cope when the core is moved away for the delivery of a cast plate, so as to obviate the necessity of resetting the clamps for successive casts.

With this object in view the present invention contemplates the movement of the core away from the back by an initial horizontal movement followed by a tilting movement and provides improved means for conveniently effecting such movement for use in conjunction with matrix clamping devices mounted on the cope which retain the matrix therein ready for a subsequent cast.

In carrying out the invention, the pivotal support of the bottom ring is slidable horizontally away from and towards the cope and the desired sliding and initial tilting movements of the said support for opening the mold are eifected by the actuation of a rock shaft controlling a system of lever arms and links which accomplish the desired movements in the correct sequence to bring the core away from the cope and impart to it the initial tilt ready for the completion of a its movement to the horizontal position.

The tilting of the core to the horizonal position is, in known manner, assisted by rollers carried by the core engaging with cam races, and the invention further contemplates the employment of arms actuated by the movement of the abovementioned rockshaft which are moved during the initial movement of the core to a position behind said rollers to ensure the engagement thereof with the said cam races.

The invention further contemplates the automatic return of the bottom ring support to the horizontal withdrawn position and for re-tilting it ready for the engagement therewith of the core as the latter is being returned to its vertical position, and an arrangement of lever arms carried by a second rockshaft, (herein termed the moldclosing shaft) for imparting to the core and bottom ring the horizontal mold-closing movement. In connection with this arrangement safety devices are preferably provided to prevent the actuation of the mold-closing shaft until the core is in the correct vertical position for engagement with the cope.

The invention is hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, illustrating one constructional form thereof. In the said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of sufiicient of a stereotype plate casting machine to show the application of the invention thereto, the parts being shown in the position occupied when the mold is closed;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 1, but drawn to a larger scale, showing the mold opening and closing devices in the position occupied when the mold is opened ready for the tilting of the core;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 2 showing the parts after the initial tilting movement of the core, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan with parts removed, drawn to the same scale as Figs. 2 and 3.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the core which is movable toward and away from the cope 2, and which, when in casting position, is supported against the so-called bottom half-ring '2 on the half-ring support 17.

In carrying out the invention, the bottom halfring support 17 is, at its outer ends, pivotally carried on a rod 16 provided with a pair of rollers 18 adapted to run in slots 19 formed in a pair of brackets 19, secured to and extending outwardly from the bottom of the cope 2, one at each side thereof. The inner part of the half-ring support 17 carries a rod with a pair of rollers 43 adapted to run on horizontal tracks provided on a bracket 44 secured to and extending outwardly from the bottom of the cope 2. The support 17 is thus sustained in its normal position and is permitted to move horizontally outwardly and inwardly to an extent limited by the length of the slots 19 in the brackets 19, to open and close the mold. For effecting the outward movement, as well as the subsequent initial tilting movement of the core preparatory to its being turned to a horizontal position, the mechanism now to be described, is provided.

The mold opening movement of the core 1 is controlled by a rockshaft 9, hereinafter referred to as the mold-opening shaft, which is controlled by a pedal lever 8. The mold-opening shaft 9 has fast on it a depending arm 11 which is connected by a link 13 to an arm 12 fast on and depending from a rockshaft 10. On the rockshaft 10 are fixed two upstanding arms 14, which at their upper ends engage in slots 15 formed in the inner ends of arms 15 pivotally mounted at their outer ends on the half-ring support rod 16. In the normal position of the parts as shown in Fig. 1, the arms 14 are engaged at the outer ends of the slots 15 so that when the pedal lever 8 is depressed, and the two shafts 9 and 10 thereby rocked, the arms 14 and 15, acting on the rod 16, push the ring support 17 outwardly to open the mold, the parts occupying, at the conclusion of this movement, the position shown in Fig. 2.

It will be understood that during this outward movement of the core, the known rollers 3 oarried by brackets 4 on the core roll on tracks 5 on the main frame. The subsequent movement of the core 1 to the horizontal position is effected by tilting it about the axis of the rollers 3 while the latter are moving along the tracks.

The mold opening shaft 9, which extends across the machine frame, carries at its central part a second inwardly extending arm 22, hereinafter termed the core tilting lever, which at its inner end is forked to embrace the lower end of a link 21 which has a slot 21 engaged by a pin carried in the fork of the core tilting lever 22. The link 21 is pivoted at its upper end to the bottom ring support 1'7. During the initial mold opening movement above described, the slot 21 permits the core tilting lever 22 to move idly until, at the completion of said mold opening movement, the above mentioned pin engages with the upper end of said slot. The rocking of the shaft 9 is thereafter continued, and through the lever 22 and link 21, the bottom half-ring support 17 and the core 1 are tilted to the position in which they are shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the support during this movement turning about the then stationary rod 16. At the same time the arms 15 turn outwardly about the rod 16 under the action of the arms 14. As the support 17 is relieved of the weight of the core 1 by the further tilting of the latter, in known manner, to the horizontal position, the pedal 8 and shafts 9, 10 are returned to their normal positions under the action of a spring 12 acting on the. shaft 10, the slots 15 and 21 permitting the respective movements of the arms 22 and 14 on the said shafts.

ttached to the lower end of the core 1 are a pair of brackets 23, one at each side, carrying rollers 25 which serve in known manner to guide the core during its movement from the vertical to the horizontal position by rolling along respective cam races 26, said rollers being brought into registration with the lower ends of these cam races at the termination of the outward horizontal movement of the core when the mold is opened (see Fig. 2). To ensure the proper engagement of the rollers 25 with the cam races 26, levers 29 are caused to follow the rollers during their horizontal movement and to close the lower ends of the cam races 26 when the rollers move thereinto. The levers 29, are fast on a'rockshaft 28, and one of the levers is connected by a link 46 to an arm 47 on the mold opening shaft 9.

As it is desirable that the lower end of the cam races 26 should be closed when the core 1 is returned to its vertical position preparatory to the closing of the mold, means are provided to maintain the levers 29 in their raised position until the commencement of the mold-closing movement. These means conveniently consist of a gravity catch 48 pivoted on the machine frame adjacent one of the levers 29 and adapted to engage a stud 49 on the said lever when it is in its raised position. The release of this catch 48 at the commencement of the mold closing movement is effected by means hereinafter described, and in order to permit the return of the mold opening shaft 9 to its normal position, after the core is tilted as above described, a stud on the arm 47 engages with a slot 50 in the link 46.

The horizontal mold closing movement of the core 1, in the arrangement illustrated, is effected by means of a pedal lever 37 fast on a rockshaft 38, to which shaft are secured levers 39, adapted to engage rollers 51 on the inner side of the brackets 23, when the shaft 38 is rocked by the depression of the pedal lever 37. To prevent the actuation of the pedal lever 37 until the core 1 has been restored to the vertical position, one of the rollers 51 is arranged to engage and depress a pivoted catch 53 which, when not so depressed, is held under the action of a spring 54 in a position to engage one of the levers 39 so as to prevent the mold closing movement of the latter. At the commencement of the mold closing movement of the levers 39, a cam piece 55 on one of the latter is brought into contact with a roller 60 on the catch 48, and moves said catch out of engagement with the stud 49 on the respective lever 29, thus allowing the levers 29 to fall by gravity to open the lower ends of the cam races 26.

The continued movement of the mold closing levers 39, brings the latter into engagement with the rollers 51 and pushes the core 1 forward to close the mold.

In an alternative arrangement, the mold closing shaft, or a shaft adapted to work in unison therewith, has fast on it upstanding arms connected to the rod 16 through slotted links which serve to eifect the mold closing movement of the bottom half-ring support, while the levers 39 and associated safety devices operate in the manner above described. In this alternative arrangement, the said shaft is further provided with lever arms connected through intermediate levers and links with hooked arms slidablo one on each side of the upper part of the core, and adapted to engage projections on the core so that when the shaft is rocked to move the bottom half-ring support inwardly these hooked arms engage the projections and correspondingly move inwards the upper part of the core. slidable arms are preferably guided by stud-s engaging slots which are so shaped that the arms are raised during the outward movement of the core to enable the latter to be subsequently tilted without the respective projections thereon fouling j;

the hooked ends of the arms.

To ensure that the core on its return to the vertical position shall properly engage with the bottom half-ring support 17, it is desirable that The r the latter should be tilted upwardly to meet the F descending core. To effect such tilting, the halfring support 17 is provided with an outwardly extending arm 61, which during the descent of the core is engaged by a roller 62 mounted on an arm depending from the underside of the core.

As previously mentioned, the above described mechanism for opening and closing the mold facilitates the use of matrix clamping devices mounted on the cope for retaining the matrix therein when the mold is opened. Matrix clamping devices of known form may be employed in conjunction with the mechanism in question, and for that reason no description of such devices is included herein. Moreover, as the construction and operation of machines of the kind to which the invention applies are well known in the art, no detailed description thereof apart from the present improvements is herein deemed necessary.

Although we have illustrated and described two forms of the invention we are aware of the fact that other modifications can be made therein by any person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore, we do not wish to be limited in this respect, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what we claim is:

1. A stereotype plate casting machine comprising a vertical concave back and a convex core adapted to be moved out of casting relationship with the back into a substantially horizontal position, a pivoted support on which the core rests when in casting position, and means for moving said support rectilinearly to move the core away from the back prior to the tilting of the core.

2. A stereotype plate casting machine comprising a vertical concave back, a convex core, a bottom half-ring, a pivoted support for the bottom half-ring, a mold-opening rockshaft, and a system of lever arms and links controlled by said shaft for effecting first a rectilinear and then a tilting movement of the support when the shaft is rocked.

3. A stereotype plate casting machine comprising a vertical concave back, a convex core, a bottom half-ring, a pivoted support for the bottom half-ring, means for imparting a rectilinear movement to the support comprising a mold operating shaft, rollers carried by the core, cam races with which the rollers engage by the rectilinear movement of the core, and members adapted to close the cam races after the rollers have moved into engagement therewith, said members being actuated by the rocking of the mold-opening shaft.

4. A stereotype plate casting machine comprising a vertical concave back, a convex core, a bottom half-ring, a pivoted support for the bottom half-ring, a mold-opening rockshaft, a system of lever arms and links controlled by said shaft for effecting rectilinear and tilting movements of the support in the desired sequence when the shaft is rocked, and means for automatically moving the bottom half-ring support back after the core has been tilted.

5. A stereotype plate casting machine comprising a vertical concave back, a convex core, a bottom half-ring, a pivoted support for the bottom half-ring, a mold-opening rockshaft, a system of lever arms and links controlled by said shaft for effecting rectilinear and tilting movements of the support in the desired sequence when the shaft is rocked, means for moving the core to a substantially horizontal position; and means actuated by the movement of the core from the horizontal to L the vertical position, adapted to re-tilt the bottom half-ring support into engagement with the core as the latter is being so moved.

6. A stereotype plate casting machine comprising a vertical concave back, a convex core, a bottom half-ring, a mold opening shaft, a pivoted support for the bottom half-ring, means for moving the core rectilinearly, rollers carried by the core, cam races with which the rollers engage by the rectilinear movement of the core, members adapted to close the cam races after the rollers have moved into engagement therewith, means by which said members are actuated by the rocking of the mold-opening shaft, and means for effecting a mold-closing rectilinear movement of the core comprising lever arms and a rockshaft on which they are mounted, said lever arms being adapted to engage the rollers carried on the core.

'7. A stereotype plate casting machine comprising a vertical concave back, a convex core, means for moving the core rectilinearly, a bottom half-ring, a mold opening shaft, a pivoted support for the bottom half-ring, rollers car ried by the core, cam races with which the rollers engage by the rectilinear movement of the core, members adapted to close the cam races after the rollers have moved into engagement therewith, means by which said members are actuated by the rocking of the mold-opening shaft, means for effecting a mold-closing rectilinear movement of the core comprising lever arms and a rock shaft on which they are mounted, said lever arms being adapted to engage the rollers carried on the core, and a detent adapted to be released by the return of the core to the vertical position and adapted normally to prevent the actuation of the mold-closing lever arms.

8. A stereotype plate casting machine comprising a vertical concave back, a convex core, a bottom half-ring supporting the core, a shaft for opening the mold and moving the core rectilinearly, a pivoted support for the bottom halfring, rollers carried by the core, cam races with which the rollers engage by the rectilinear movement of the core, members adapted to close the cam races after the rollers have moved into engagement therewith, means by which said members are actuated by the rocking of the moldopening shaft, said core also being tiltable on its half-ring to and from vertical position, and a detent adapted to retain the cam race closing members in their operative position during the tilting of the. core to and from its vertical position.

9. A stereotype plate casting machine comprising a vertical concave back, a convex core, a bottom half-ring carrying the core, a shaft for opening the mold by moving the half-ring and core back, a pivoted support for the bottom half-ring, rollers carried by the core, cam races with which the rollers engage by the backward movement of the core, members adapted to cloSe the cam races after the rollers have moved into engagement therewith, means by which said members are actuated by the rocking of the mold-opening shaft, means for effecting the mold-closing rectilinear movement of the core comprising lever arms and a rockshaft on which they are mounted, said lever arms being adapted to engage the rollers carried on the core, and means actuated by the initial movement of the mold-closing lever arms adapted to release the cam-race closing members from their operative position.

10. A stereotype plate casting machine comprising a vertical concave back, a convex core, a bottom half-ring, a shaft for opening the mold, a shaft for closing the mold, a pivoted support for the bottom half-ring, rollers carried by the core, cam races with which the rollers engage by the opening of the mold, members adapted to close the cam races after the rollers have moved into engagement therewith, means by which said members are actuated by the rocking of the mold-opening shaft, and upstanding arms connected with the mold-closing shaft, and slotted links by which said arms are connected to the bottom half-ring support.

11. A stereotype plate casting machine comprising a vertical concave back, a convex core, a bottom half-ring, a pivoted support for the bottom half-ring, meanswhereby the bottom half-ring support is tilted on its pivot to impart the initial tilting movement to the core, a moldopening rockshaft, a system of lever arms and links controlled by said shaft for eifecting a rectilinear movement of the support in the desired sequence when the shaft is rocked, a moldclosing shaft having members operatively connected thereto, and projections on the core near its upper end adapted to be engaged by said members to assist the mold-closing movement of the core.

12. A stereotype plate casting machine comprising a vertical concave back, a convex core, a bottom half-ring, a pivoted support for the bottom half-ring, means whereby the bottom half-ring support is tilted on its pivot to impart the initial tilting movement to the core, a moldopening rockshaft, a system of lever arms and links controlled by said shaft for effecting an outward movement of the support and core when the shaft is rocked, a mold-closing shaft having members operatively connected thereto, projections on the core near its upper end adapted to be engaged by said members to assist the mold-closing movement of the core, and means adapted, during the outward movement of the core, to move the core engaging members out of the path pursued by the projections during the subsequent tilting of the core.

WILLIAM GERRARD. WALTER HARRIS. 

